Chapter 70

See now I think this is another one of those odd questions. It’s just like being short or tall. There is nothing special about their eyes. I think that people who are Deaf are probably more in tune with people’s facial expressions and their body language but it’s not that they would be able to see further than other people. People who are not Deaf can also acquire skills in ASL because they watch and learn to read body language and peoples facial expressions. I love that it says, “this doesn’t make them visually smarter or eagle-eyed.” I thought this was a funny thing to say.

Chapter 69

Again, never would have thought about this. If someone is Deaf during the day or when it is light they would need to be on alert for someone talking. I just can’t imagine never being able to look away when someone is talking. You could never take your attention off that person because you have to be watching. I mean in situations I would be able to focus on that person signing, like in class, but when I’m talking to my friends sometimes I’m off doing something else. Or we are cooking or something and talking to one another across the room.

I thought that part about the kids who are Deaf going to that school and them being forced to sleep in the dark was terrible. How horrible of those people! I mean I understand that children need to get used to being in the dark but there are other ways around that! You could get a diming light that goes out a little more each night or something. It doesn’t have to be an immediate thing where they are forced to start out in the dark. Of course they aren’t going to be able to sleep. Sorry, I was a big chicken when I was younger and couldn’t imagine my parents, or teachers, doing this to me. 

Chapter 68

When I first read the question of this chapter, I was like oh my gosh, come on! But then I read further to see that they are talking about interpreters wearing dark or plain colors. Since we have already talked about this in class I really could read though this chapter and understand more of why. You don’t want any colors or anything to take away from your signing. I really like how at the end they talked about ski masks, sunglasses, hats, etc. I laughed because the first thing they started with was the ski mask, like people usually go around wearing ski masks on a daily basis. I never would have thought about sunglasses and hats and such as being something that you wouldn’t really be able to wear. It makes sense though because you wouldn’t be able to see the eyebrows to know if someone is asking a question or not. 

Chapter 67

I thought this was a fascinating question as well. The chapter is talking about people who are Deaf having different facial anatomy. I have never noticed anything different about people who are Deaf having different facial features. I think everyone looks different anyway.

I went to this thing for the Academic Team the other day and the school we were at had a big rug of all kinds of different children. There was a child in a wheelchair, all different races, blind, and then one girl was holding up her fingers in the “ILY” sign. I laughed a little because it just threw me off seeing that. I never realized that you really wouldn’t be able to tell that she was different unless she had a hearing aid or something like that. I just thought it was an interesting way to show that she was Deaf.

Other than a hearing aid or something else like that I don’t see how you would be able to tell that someone was deaf. Even if you see two people signing, you wouldn’t be able to say exactly that they were deaf. Look at you, you can sign and probably hang out with your friends who are Deaf outside of your own home. I’m sure people probably think you are deaf when you’re not. 

Chapter 66

Singsong is really interesting. Once I read this chapter, I started thinking about other songs and how you could sign sing them. It would be really complicated! There are so many words that you wouldn’t use in ASL in those songs. I just think that it would get really complicated to sign all these songs that at modern. I think it would be really fun to create a song or be a singer or singsongs. The book talks about a lady named, Sherry Hicks. She is a hearing person who performs ASL songs! I think that this would be really hard to do but it would also be really fun.

My nieces teacher would have the students do sign songs while they sing during Christmas performances. I always thought this was kind of fun for the students. Now that I read this chapter I realize that maybe it isn’t the best idea for students. It is a really great way to keep their hands busy during performances but I could see where it could be hurtful to people who are Deaf. I think that it is nice that students are learning some ASL through these songs but they should probably learn the whole songs, not just a few words. 

Chapter 65

I thought this was an understandable question to ask. ‘Can Deaf people appreciate music at all?’ was the question at the beginning of this chapter. I thought it was interesting to hear about some people who are Deaf love music and others could care less about it. I love music and couldn’t imagine being without it. If you think about it, music is in everything you watch. It is on every show you would watch, every movie, music videos, cars, shops, etc. I think it would be really hard to watch a movie without music. Think about watching a scary movie without the dark tones to let you know something bad is going to happen. Like in the movie, Jaws, the music that happens when the shark is about to attack. In this book they said that, “most Deaf people don’t enjoy music, as they don’t understand it; music appreciation is a foreign concept.” I didn’t really like this sentence in the chapter but I guess since I’m not part of the Deaf community I wouldn’t have much insight on whether this is true or not. I think that growing up without music would be very difficult. 

Chapter 64

I thought this chapter was really fascinating to read about. I didn’t realize that people who were deaf could be amazing dancers. I mean, I knew they could dance but I didn’t realize that they could actually go to school and become dancers. It was really awesome to read that it doesn’t matter if you are deaf or not, you can still do everything a hearing person can. It was also interesting to hear about how people who are deaf hear the music. They can hear through vibrations and the bass. I loved this line, “some hearing people are terrific dancers and some are incredible klutzes, the same applies to deaf people (p. 377).” I feel like finally, the author says something along those lines!! He should have said it about that stupid, ‘why do some deaf people not like to read?’ question. I’m sorry but I still find that question a little dumb. Some people are just different and it doesn’t matter if they are deaf or hearing. I think it would be really fun to go to a concert or something that people who are deaf go so I can hear how loud they really do make their music. The book says that it is super loud.